There were no footsteps, no breathing, not even the sound of a physical object tearing through the air at high speed.
Silent as death.
In an instant, the slender silver light that had burst from Akatsuki Ran's hand reached Uesugi Tetsu's vicinity.
Yet from outside the arena, one could still see Akatsuki Ran standing at the center of the sand-covered arena, having never moved at all.
This bizarre phenomenon left many spectators with little practical combat experience staring blankly in their seats, unsure where to look.
But even before Uesugi Tetsu turned his head, the "clear mirror" in his heart had already reflected the trajectory of that bland-as-water yet murderous thrust with perfect clarity.
Uesugi Tetsu did not waste time turning to look.
He held his breath and focused his mind, making the blazing Corona Qi erupt from the ends of both hands. Then he twisted his wrists and placed the tip of his plain spear across the unavoidable path of the sudden, lightning-fast thrust.
Screeech!
Iron and bone collided at a single point. After a moment of oppressive silence, the violent clang transformed into visible sound waves that thundered outward in every direction.
Feeling the heavy pressure transmitted from the spear into his arms, Uesugi Tetsu's expression did not change as he plucked at the strings of his heart.
The Two-Shaku-Sama behind him immediately raised both hands and shaped them like guns.
Amid a series of popopo sounds, a string of gray-white pellets curved around Uesugi Tetsu and sped toward the space in front of him.
Clang! Clang!
Just before those gray-white pellets arrived, the true form of the silvery-white streak of light—the small, pure-white bone dagger—flipped and danced through the nearly nonexistent distance, stabbing the same point on the head of the plain spear several more times in